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Mike Auldridge

Bluegrass musicians, could your tune be the next "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"? Let the world know! In honor of dobro master Mike Auldridge, the Mike Auldridge Instrumental Contest seeks to bring attention to the best original instrumentals in bluegrass and related styles. Entries accepted through October 15, 2017. Prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Prizes are awarded jointly to all co-authors. 1st place prize is $500 and the winner gets to perform his/her winning tune at the 2018 DC Bluegrass Festival, and also receives two full-festival passes.

The DC Bluegrass Union has launched the Mike Auldridge Instrumental Contest to honor the life and musicianship of one of America's greatest players. The competition will spotlight the best original compositions from bluegrass, old-time and related musicians around the world. Auldridge's effortlessly tasteful Dobro guitar work borrowed from Josh Graves, but added swing, blues and horn influences to arrive at a uniquely new sound.

Nashville, TN -- Three Bells will be released by Rounder on September 16, 2014. The album, a historic collaboration between fellow Dobro masters Jerry Douglas, Mike Auldridge, and Rob Ickes, marks a personally-charged landmark in all three gentlemen’s expansive bodies of work. In addition to marking the three musicians' first work together since 1994's Grammy-winning The Great Dobro Sessions, Three Bells features the final recordings of Douglas' and Ickes’ longtime friend and mentor Auldridge, who passed away on December 28, 2012, shortly after the recording sessions were completed.
first work together since 1994

Washington, DC -- Smithsonian Folkways will be releasing a collection by bluegrass music favorites, the Seldom Scene this April. The album, Long Time...Seldom Scene contains some of the band's most popular arrangements. For more than four decades, profoundly influential bluegrass band The Seldom Scene has shared its undeniable talent, progressive repertoire, and creative spirit both in the studio and on stage. The Seldom Scene dedicates this album to the memory of founding members John Duffey (1934-1996) and Mike Auldridge (1938-2012).

From the National Endowment of the Arts: "It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellow and master Dobro musician Mike Auldridge. Over the course of his celebrated career, Auldridge innovated the use of the Dobro, influencing the development of contemporary bluegrass and country music and paving the way for other Dobro musicians such as Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes. Auldridge performed as a member of such Maryland groups as the Seldom Scene and also as a solo artist. He recorded with musicians such as Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Patty Loveless, Lyle Lovett, Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, Hank Williams, Jr., and Bill Monroe. During the 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellowships Concert in October 2012, Rob Ickes described the influence of Auldridge on the development of the Dobro: 'You can draw a line at Mike Auldridge. The Dobro is played with a metal bar, metal finger picks, and metal strings. There is a lot of room for noise. This guy figured out how to get rid of the noise and just leave the music.' We join many others in the bluegrass community and beyond in mourning the loss of Mike Auldridge while celebrating his life and enormous musical contributions."

Mike Auldridge, the legendary dobro player who co-founded the Seldom Scene and later, Chesapeake, died yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer. He was 73. He had been under hospice care until his passing. His expressive talent on the resophonic guitar had no bounds as he played bluegrass, country and even jazz with style and elegance. He performed primarily around his Maryland home but certainly performed across the nation and the globe.

Rob Ickes, Dobro player for the bluegrass music group Blue Highway, wrote to express his appreciation for Mike Auldridge's Fellowship award from the National Endowment of the Arts. Rob says, "This is a special week for someone who is my mentor, and an icon not only in the dobro community, but in the world of music."

Called by the Washington Post "one of maybe a handful of truly innovative Dobro players in the history of country and bluegrass music," Mike Auldridge's modern approach to the Dobro -- an acoustic resonator guitar played with a slide -- played an integral role in the development of contemporary bluegrass and country music.